Article handling device



Aug. 17, 1943. B. A. RAETSCH 7,

ARTICLE HANDLING DEVICE 7 Filed May 7, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mil 10? INVEI'N TOR B. A .RAETSCH 6) A T TORNEY Patented Aug. 17, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT 1 OFFICE 2,327,126 V '7 V ARTIOILE HANDLING DEVICE Bruno A; Baetsch, Baltimore, Md., assignor to tVestern Electric Company,'-Incorporated, New

York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application May 7,1941, Serial No. 392,337

Claims.

This invention relates to article handling devices, and more particularly to devices for sorting and magazining articles; 7

The products of automatic screw machines are generally formed from rod stock, which stock is initially fed to a machine forthe first opera tion, after which the machine automatically. continues the subsequent feeding operations. To feed partially formed articles to such a machine, different problems arise depending upon the size and contour of the articles and the operations to be performed thereon by the machine.

An object of the invention is to provide an article handling device which is simple in structure and highly efiicient in feeding and sorting articles for an article working machine.

With this and other objects inview, the inven- 7 tion comprises an article handling deviceiincluding elements movable relative to 'a trough to feed articles thereto and be directed thereby to a selector wheel for rejecting articles directed one way and deliver the other articles to a magazine.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description-when Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentarydetailed Viewv of the magazine and the adjacent selector wheel structure;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view'taken.

along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional along the line 66 of Fig. 1; a Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View taken along the line 'l"l of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken sub stantiallyalong the line 8-8 of Fig. 1. j

Referring now to the drawings, attention is directed to Figs. 1 and 2 which illustrate a housing 10 mounted in any suitable manner upon a suitable support (notshown). The housing It has an opening at the top and front portions, as at H, for the supplying of articles 12 to a hopper [3, the latter being in the central forword portion of the'housing. A lower wallul l of the hopper extends diagonally downwardly toward an inner wall 15 but terminates short of the wall, providing a passageway-.16 at the lower extremity of the hopper. An extension H at the view taken lower extremity of the hopper is bent arcuately forwardly at its'lower edge and cooperates with the adjacent portion of the inner wall I5 which is similarly bent arcuately in the opposite direction, as at 18, to serve as guides for endless chains The endless chains 26 are mounted upon sets of sprocket wheels 2| and 22, the lower set 21 being mounted and fixed to a shaft 23 while the upper set of sprocket wheels 2| is mounted on and fixed to a shaft 24. These shafts'23 and 24 are disposed in the housing Iii and supported by suitable beari'ngsifi and 21 respectively. A shaft 36, disposed parallel with the shafts 23 and 24 and supported by bearings 31 in the housing Hi, has a gear 33 mounted thereupon which interengages a gear 34 mounted upon the shaft Therefore, through the operative connection of the gears 33 and 3 l, the shaft 23 is rotated when rotation is imparted to the shaft 39. Power means (not shown, but which in the present instance may be the driving means of. an automatic screw machine with which the device is to be associated) may be caused to rotate a sprocket wheelSfi through the aid of a chain 31. The sprocket wheel 35 is held against axial movement to the right (FigQl) on the shaft 30 by a collar 40, the latter being securedto the shaft 30. A clutch member 4| is fixed to the sprocket wheel 36 and is formed to be interengaged with a clutch member 42, the latter being movable mits disengagement of the clutch members should causes arise to interfere with the rotation of the shafts 23 and 24. r

As will be observed by viewing Fig. 1, the endless chains) are disposed definite distances apart and travel constantly in definite paths, these pathsbeing, as illustrated in Fig. 2, adjacent the inner wall 15. Positioned between V the endless chains 20 is a plurality of article feedof openin'giii each of the reces'es isto 1161 b adjacent element. The purpose of the elongate apertures in the links is to allow relative movement of each link, and its associated element with the pin 5|, during the travel of the links and elements about the sprocket wheels 2| and 22. The main purpose of the links is to maintain the position'of the elements 59 relative to the chains during their travel and to eliminate the possibility of the elements reversing or varying their relative positions, particularly during their downward movement where they travel unaided by a wall, such as the Wall =15.

Returning to the elements at, it will be noted that the upper surface of each element is divided,

into five portions, the outer portionsand the central portion extending diagonally in one direction as indicated at 51, while the other portions, indicated at 53 and 59, extend diagonally in another direction. With this formation of the upper surface of each element only the portions 58 59 will remove articles &2 from the hopper; The portions 58 5%, however, "depend upon the adjacent surface 'of the inner wall in forming article retaining pockets or ledgesin conveying the articles upwardly from the hopper; I c

Theupher edge of the inner wall 15 extends angulaf'rly adjacent the path-oi the elements and is bevelled, as at M (Figs; 2 and 8), to d-irect'a'n article carried by the elements into a trough 5-2 secured to t'he'inner wall at its, upper edge extending at the same angle therewith.

Articles conveyed to the trough E32 "by the elements 58 travel down the -troughto =a selecto'r wheel the latter being fixedly supported upon a shaft 'SQWhiCh is journ -lle'd in suitable beerin'gs, 'on'e of whiohis --i-nd-itat'ed at 35 (-35 5; 3). Ifhe selector wheel has plu' :htyo-f recesses equally spaced about s periphery, these ece'sses being open at {one the of the :wheel, as indicated at 6?, "as well-as the peripheral edge thereof. Theopenifng of the recess at its pei iph era'l e d'ge i's't'o "receive article's ff-rom the trough E2 fedthereto by the elements to. The purpose eje'ctme'nt of all articles incorrectly di-re'cted the "selector iwhe'el. By the term i correctl directed it is" meant tho e articles which are directed with "the wrong end form-re, toward the selector 'wieel; In'the present instance let it be assumed that the end to is to he-dril-ied tapped by an automatic screw machine-t uth which the device is associated and tl'iat iii order for the article to 'befied to the--rnachine it be'directed throughn'ra'g'az -ine '5 and'to 'a transfer arm (n otsh'own) with the end #6 deaf-ling. With this thought in in thearti'cle, t-obe fed to themagazine with theend iii leading, rnust be fed to the selector with theother end leading, as the position of the article is reversed in its tl'avel'from the trough the magazine; The selector wheel is, therefore, iorined with a supporting surface P2 at the innerendcf each recess 65, to support the article's singly thereon and their be --fed to "the trough G2 with the end +9 leading.- 1 An eje'ctingspring mounted upon'a bracket i=1 which is supported "by the housing H3 (Figs. 3 and 6)-, is conditioned to ride upon the a'd jacent Wall :5 of the selector wheel and project through apertures "it at. each recess ht, to force incorrectly positioned article's from "the recesses, forcing them into i archute I? which will return. thearticles to the liop'penit clue toits contour and ositiornas illustrated in Fig. 5. To further articles, when thus positioned in the selector,

extending within the outer peripheral edge of the selector. "With this construction a correctly positioned article entering a recess 3-3 of the selector wheel from the trough 52 will be held against ejectrnent by the spring 13 and will not projectoutwardly from the selector wh el to be engaged by the i'hembe r T8, the article thus positiohe'd transferred by the selector Wheel from the trough to the -maghZ-ine H.

The rn'eans for imparting interm' tent rotary IhbVh-leht the selector Wh'el CO'hSi'S'tS of "a ratehet 'wheel 334 (Fig. 1) fixedly mounted upon the sha-ftt and positioned to'he engaged 'by a pain 85. l'pawl 85 is car-nee by one end of a i o'd 86, the other end "of the rod being conne'cted as 'at '81-, to a si'e'eve 88 of an eccentric IS. A s ring '99 normally urges the pawl 85 into engagemen-t 'th the 'tch'et wheel '84 and suitable meas not sh n) may be provided to guide the ron 86 in-its reciprocal movement mounted upon a shafft 92, tb'e latter being journalledih bearings 93 supported by the housing It ahd-having 'a 'worin 194 ni'ol in'ted thereon and in'te-i en ging were -gear E5. The worm :gear 65 1s mounted the shaft as illustrated Figs. 1 and d't'hrough this connection the elector iii-heel is rotated i'r'rte rr'riittent-ly in synchiori-isih 'with the cen'stant movement of the ere ems 50. i

The magazine Ti has its i ippe'r end suppoited by a bracket at which in the present instance is means '=consi's'ts of 'a door 89 hinged at 1-00 and of the ZitiritoiihshQWn-ih Figs 4 "and 5, to, when completely closed, -corn'plete the 'circular contour of the opening'fi'fl, the door being normally' held closed by a sprin'g 101. Therefore, during norm'al conditions, with the iiiagazineonly .partiall'y filled 'cr 'leSS'th'an completely filled, the door 86 will reinain closed, but if the magazine'shouldbe. 1

filled 'se tha-t the next :present'ed articie will not be eemmetew received thereby, rotation *of the selectorwheel 63 with the partially ej'ec ed an.

ticle wilhcausethe door to reopened a sufficient distance to drop "the article into thee-chute 80. 7 During the operation of the apparatus the shaft is rbtated from :rpowe'r means (not shown) 'throughfthe'chains 2 0 -and the sprocket Wheel 36, this motion being transmitted to the The portion of the bracket 56 at the This shaft through the clutch members 4! and 12. Rotation of the shaft at will cause rotation of the shafts 23 and 24, imparting movement to the elements. 553 through their sprocket wheels 2! and 22, and the chains 28. Simultaneous-with the movement of the elements 50,;the, selector wheel 53 is caused to operate through the worm gear 95, the worm the shaft 52, the eccentric 83 the rod 8", the pawl 65, the ratchet wheel Sit and the shaft The formation of the elements 56 in moving through the passageway l6 oithe hopper l3, will pick up an article oneach of, the surfaces or portions 58 and 59, articles engaging the portions 5'! remaining in the hopper. The. articlesbeing transported by the portions 53 and 59 ofthe elements may be disposed in either of two positions, either the correct position-or the incorrect position. Regardless of the position in which the article is disposed, it will be moved upwardly, lying on the diagonal surfaces 58 or 59, which surface cooperates with the adjacent surface of the wall E5 to provide a pocket for the article. The accurate spacing of the portions 58 and 5;? on each element as well as the accurate spacing of the elements one from another and the angular positioning of the trough relative to the elements, results in the deposit of articles into the trough at definite spaced intervals of time. For example, the element 553 shown in Fig. 1 which has just reached the trough has its portion cs located at a position to deposit its article in the trough. At this time the selector wheel 63 has just been moved to locate a recess 58 at the lower end of the trough to receive the deposited article. The movement of the elements is continuous, yet during the lapse of time between the depositing of the article, from the aforementioned portion 59 of the'element adjacent the trough, and the movement of the article on the portion 53 of this element to a position where it will be dropped into the trough, the selector wheel will have received its article from the portion 5% and rotated to the next position, locating the next recess 56 adjacent the lower end of the trough. Attention is directed to the fact that the articles from the portions 53 have farther to travel than those from the portions 53. To compensate for this, so that all articles will reach the selector at like intervals of time, there is a greater time interval between the feeding of an article from a portion 58 of one element and the feeding of an article from a portion 59 of the next element, than there is between the feeding of an article from a portion 52 of one element and an article from the portion 58 of the same element. It will, therefore, be observed that although each article is dropped into the trough at different but alternately like Spaced intervals of time, the articles will all reach the selector at like intervals of time and vacant recesses 66 of the selector wheel will be singly p sitioned at the lower end of the trough to receive them.

When the article on the portion 58 of the element 5d adjacent the trough isdropped into the trough, it will ride down the trough and enter the recess 56 positioned there to receive it. This article, however, is incorrectly positioned and will rest upon the supporting surface '12 (Fig, 3) The" article thus positioned in the recess will, when the selector wheel receives its next rotaryv movement, be advanced to the position where the spring '53 will be allowed to enter the aperture 55, thereadjacent, rapidly and strike the article, to move it into the chute 11 and cause it to pass back into the hopper 13. If by chance this ejecting means does not completely remove the article the surface 19 of'the member 18 will force the article put of the opening- 61 of its recesses 66 and free of the selector wheel, causingit to drop into the chute 89. .The sameoperation will take effect regarding the next article presented to the chute, this being the article on portion 59 of the neXt element approachingthe trough. However,

.- when thearticle on the portion 58 of this next element isdropped into the chute the smaller enter the magazine ll.

It will, therefore, be apparent that the device requires no attention other than maintaining the hopper supplied with articles. The device operates from a power means which may include that of the machine with which it is associated. N0 means is provided to deliver the articles to the trough in the correct positions, as such a problem would require a complicated mechanism for its solution. Such a mechanism is not necessary in view of the fact that the elements deliver the articles to the trough at a greater rate than necessary to supply the magazine and the selector wheel with its associated ejecting means elimimate the possibility of any article entering the magazine incorrectly positioned.

The embodiment of the invention herein disclosed is merely illustrative and may be modified and widely departed from in many ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as pointed out in and limited solely by the trough, a magazine, a selector to receive articles from the trough and transfer them to the magazinc, and a door actuable, when the magazine is full, by an article being transferredby the selector to eliminate jamming of the selector.

2. An article handling device which comprises a hopper for articles, a plurality of elements spaced from one another and movable in a path through the hopper, a plurality of spaced article engaging portions on each element, a wall adjacent to the path of the elements, said wall cooperating with the spaced article engaging portions in the removal of articles from the hopper, a trough disposed at an angle relative. to the path of the elements and having one edge coterminous with the upper edge of the wal1,and a selector positioned at one end of the trough to receive articles, saidelements, spaced article engaging portions, and trough, being so related spacially as to cause the articles to be deposited singly in the trough at unequal periods of time and to arrive at the selector at similarly spaced intervals of time.

3. An article handling device comprising a hopper for retaining articles, a trough, a selector positioned at one endjof the trough, means for conveying articles from the hopper and depositing them in the trough, said means being so positioned in relation to the troughthatthe articles are successively deposited in the trough at unequal intervals of time and reach the selector at substantially equal intervals of time, a magazine cent to the path, a plurality of members on fine movable element's formed so as to cooperate with the Wall to cause the articles -to move along the path, a selector, and an inclined trough for 'feed ing articles to the selector and l'iaw'i-ng one edge thereof coter-Ininous wi thth npp'er edge of the wall, the angle of the trou'gh and the spacing er the members on the element's-fleeing so related as to cause the articles ito be deposited singly iii-'50 the trough at unequal intervals of time .in order that may :arrive at the selector at equal intervals of time.

5.. .mn erricie handling caevice which comprises a hopper I01" retaining articles, :a magazine, '2. selector for transferring articles 170 the magazine, means for conveying articles from the hopper to the selector, spring means for forcefully striking 8211 of the article transferred by the selector to remove an incorrectl positioned articles increfrom, cam means -for ejecting incorrectly positi'oned articles from the selector which the spring means have improperly failed to efi ect, and a door formed. in time magazine which when the magazine is "is actuable by an article being transferred by the-selector to prevent jarnmingo'f the selector. I

- BRUNO 

